Missouri voters support ban on ranked-choice voting • Missouri Independent

Missouri residents have approved a constitutional amendment banning ranked-choice or approval voting — becoming the 11th state to do so.

The amendment passed by a majority of about two to one.

Ranked-choice voting and approval voting have been introduced in places like Maine and Alaska. Proponents argue that these reforms will reduce the polarization and hyperpartisanship of elections.

In a ranked-choice voting system, voters rank candidates according to their preference rather than selecting just one. An animation demonstrating the process can be found here.

Ranked-choice voting advocates who opposed the ban argued that ranked-choice systems encourage candidates to appeal to a broader political spectrum rather than appealing to the most ideologically extreme voters of both parties.

Opponents of ranked-choice voting who supported the ban countered that ranked-choice voting and approval voting were more confusing and likely to lead to voting errors.

St. Louis has already adopted a form of approval voting for its citywide primary elections. In this system, voters can vote for multiple candidates. The two candidates with the most support win. St. Louis will continue to use consent voting since it was introduced before the Amendment 7 ban.

The amendment also changes a line in the Missouri Constitution to specify that “only” U.S. citizens have the right to vote, rather than “all” U.S. citizens.

Non-citizen voting was already illegal under Missouri law prior to the passage of Amendment 7, but this amendment amends the Missouri Constitution to specifically prohibit non-citizen voting.

The campaigns on both sides of Amendment 7 were relatively quiet compared to the campaigns on the more prominent abortion and sports betting amendments. Four political committees filed spending reports on the change: Southland Progress and Preserve Local Elections opposed it, while Missouri Right to Life and Americans for Citizen Voting were in favor.

Americans for Citizen Voting spent more than $250,000 campaigning in support of Amendment 7. Preserve Local Elections spent about $3,500 campaigning against the amendment.

Southland Progress, a political committee in south Kansas City, also opposed Amendment 7, and Missouri Right to Life supported it. Both committees spent less than $1,000 on the campaign.

This article first appeared on Beacon: Missouri and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.